


Ice skating hearts

by April4444Key



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Highschool AU, M/M, Viktor with a K, bit slow at first but everyone will show up at one point, excuse the cheesy title, that au no one asked for where Yuuri meets a hot russian exchange student, viktor and Yuri are brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2018-09-08 00:59:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8823676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/April4444Key/pseuds/April4444Key
Summary: Katsuki Yuri has spent his entire high school career flying under the radar but all that changes when a new Russian exchange student comes to town and decides to help him revive the school's discontinued ice skating club.





	1. Chapter 1

Needless to say, Katsuki Yuuri wasn't the most popular person in school, or even in his grade. He preferred to lay low and avoid all the useless high school drama that surrounded him, and instead focus on his grades and education.

He wasn't constantly surrounded by a huge group of people and that he had only ever gone to a party once in his high school career...and that was only because his friend, Phichit, had forced him to come and socialize for a change. (That night had been a completely disaster, he had ended up throwing up in the yard and doing other things that he preferred to forget).

There was nothing really that interesting about him, his life was pretty constant and always stuck on the same old routine. So of course, he had no reason to suspect that today wasn't going to be just a regular day again.

He was in his English class, diligently working on some homework so that he wouldn't have to worry about it later when suddenly he heard someone say his name.

"Yuuri! The principal wants to see you." 

Yuuri felt his jaw drop when his brain registered the words that had been directed towards him and he instantly felt himself begin to panic. The rest of the class instantly silenced and everyone turned around to stare at Yuuri. Him? Go to the principal's office? That had to be a mistake, why in the world was he in trouble? He hadn't done anything wrong...at least he couldn't think of anything that would warrant a visit to the principal.

"Yuuri?" His teacher was looking at him. "Didn't you hear? Go to the principal's office."

"Y-yes, sir" Yuuri managed to blurt out when his mouth started to work again. He rose up and hurriedly made his way down the aisle and towards the door, all while trying his best to ignore his classmate's stares.

As he walked to the principal's office, Yuuri ranked through his mind and tried to come up with a explanation for this. Maybe he wasn't in trouble, maybe the principal just had to tell him something important....what if something had happened to his parents?

That thought was even worse and Yuuri shook his head frantically, trying to get it out of his mind. Instead he took out his phone and checked to see if he had any new messages. There was one from Phichit, who had sent him a photo of himself making a comically shocked expression. Underneath he had written

PHICHIT: [10:45]- guess what I just heard!!!

Yuuri was about to reply when he suddenly felt as if two lasers were burning straight through him and he quickly looked up to see the principal standing outside his office, glaring impatiently for him to get off his phone. "You know the rule about phones during class time."

Sheepishly, Yuuri quickly shoved his phone into his pocket. "Sorry, sir."

The man merely grumbled in disapproval and opened the door to his office. "Go on in," He snapped, motioning for Yuuri to enter.

Inside there was someone sitting in the chair and as soon as he heard their footsteps, he whirled around to face them. Yuuri almost gasped out loud the second his eyes laid sight on the stranger and he felt his heart start to pound a thousand times faster in his chest. Whoever he was, he looked absolutely godly, his skin was white as snow and his hair seemed as if it were made of silk.

"This is Viktor Nikiforov," The principal explained bluntly as he closed the door behind them. "He's an exchange student from Russia, and I need you to show him around."

"Me?" Yuuri let the single word slip out before he could stop himself and he almost regretted it when the principal shot him a stern look that made he shrink back in embarrassment. One does not simply question the man's decision.

"Yes, you." The older man rubbed his forehead in frustration. "All your teachers have nothing but good things to say about you, so I had hoped that it wouldn't be too much trouble for you to help Mr. Nikiforov, but if you--"

"No, it's fine! It'd be no trouble at all." Yuuri insisted. The last thing he wanted was for the principal to think of him as lazy or incompetent.

"Excellent, I knew I could count on you." The principal handed him a bunch of papers and then motioned from him and Yuuri to leave. "That's all, you two may leave now"

Yuuri wasted no time in opening the door and stepping out into the hallway as soon as he heard those words, and Viktor followed closely behind him. Sighing in relief, he ran a hand through his hair and he glanced down at the papers that were clenched in his hand. It was a copy of Viktor's class schedule, and after looking it over it suddenly struck him that he shared almost all of his classes with him. That explained why he had been chosen to show him around.

"Is he always like that?"

Yuuri tore his gaze off the papers and looked up in surprise. Viktor was peering at him with a questioning expression and he silently motioned towards the principal's closed door.

"Yeah...he doesn't like kids...or people in general.." Yuri moved a few steps away from the door due to a paranoid feeling that the door would suddenly burst open and detention slips would be hurled at him from the inside.

Viktor nodded in understanding but the corners up his lips tugged up in amusement. "Yuuri, right? " He held out his hand towards the Japanese boy.

"Right." Yuuri hesitantly reached out and shook his hand lightly. He was almost surprised by how warm it felt, and how comforting it felt to just intertwine his fingers with Viktor. The handshake was brief, and he felt disappointed when he dropped his arm back to his side.

Viktor chuckled softly and ran a hand through his hair. "I have a brother, step brother actually, and his name's Yuri too." He glanced over at Yuuri, his eyes sparking in silent laughter. "The same name, but you two couldn't be more different."

There was something in Viktor's tone, but Yuuri couldn't figure out what it was. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." There was a faint smile on his lips and Viktor closed his eyes as he concentrated in deep thought, as if searching through the deepest craters of his mind for the perfect words to say. "....he's not as cute as you."

"Huh?!" Confusion was the felt thing that hit Yuuri as soon as he heard those words. The first thought was that he couldn't have possibly heard what he thought. The second was that his cheeks had just gotten uncomfortably warm and were probably as red as a tomato and he was suddenly aware of how hard his heart was thumping in his chest and how loud it echoed in his ears.

It was at this point that he finally accepted the undeniable truth that today was going to be anything but a regular day. Thank god it was almost lunch at least.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(LUNCH)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So this is the cafeteria,"

Viktor's eyes scanned the each table intently, his eyes silently moving from each friend group to the next as if he were searching for something important. "Where do you sit?"

"Me?" Yuuri let his gaze fall on some kids who were motioning frantically at Viktor for him to join them before turning back to the Russian. "You want to sit with me?"

Viktor raised an eyebrow up in surprise. "Who else would I sit with?"

Yuuri opened his mouth to protest but he stopped himself and simply nodded. "Usually I eat with my friend, Phichit." He explained, intentionally leaving out the fact that Phichit was the only person he ever hung out with during lunch. The two of them made their way towards the other end of the cafeteria, all while Yuuri tried his best to ignore the dirty looks he was getting from some of his classmates. He already knew what people were thinking, why on earth did the new guy want to sit with him?

"Yuuri, have you heard about that new Russian student?!" It was amazing how Phichit could always sense when his friend was right behind without even having to look up from his phone. "Some people have been saying that he's part of the Russian mafia, or that he's some undercover spy that--"

It was when he didn't receive a response that the Thai teen finally glanced up and his eyes landed on his horrified best friend and Viktor, who was trying hard not to laugh out loud.

"Woah, it's you!" Without skipping a beat, Phichit shoved his bag off the lunch table and grinned excitedly at the two. "Yuuri, why didn't you tell me that you knew him?" His words took on a hurt tone and he feigned a wounded look.

"Sorry," Viktor said teasingly at he sat down. "He's been too busy showing me around," His eyes never left Yuuri's as he spoke and his smile widened when his saw a light blush dust across the Japanese boy's face.

Phichit watched the two carefully and he laughed when he saw Yuuri's reaction. "So, I'm guessing you're not really an undercover spy, are you?" He asked Viktor, trying hard to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Sadly no," Viktor too seemed disappointed, but all that changed when Phichit starting talking about something else and the two of them fell into a friendly conversation.

Yuuri cannot help but study them as he quietly ate his lunch. There was just something about Viktor, he seemed so comfortable with everyone, and talked to people as if they were a long-lost friend and not someone he had barely known for two minutes.

"Yuuri?"

He heard his name being called and Yuuri quickly snapped out of his train of thought and looked up. "Sorry, just daydreaming."

"I just realized something," Viktor studied him for a second. "I barely know anything about you and that has to change right now!"

"What?" Yuuri barely had time to comprehend what he had just said before suddenly Viktor had leaned in closer to him.

"Tell me everything about you." His blue eyes were full of determination and he seemed way too eager about this. "Do you have any lovers? What about ex-lovers?"

Yuuri almost choked on the milk he was drinking. "W-What?! Why do you want to know?"

Besides them, Phichit held up his phone and smirked evilly. "Well there was this one party we went to, and Yuuri--"

"Phichit, don't!" Yuuri cried as he threw a spoon at his friend and tried to grab the phone out of his hands. He really didn't want to be reminded of what had happened and he definitely didn't want Viktor to know.

Viktor leaned his elbow on the table on cradled his chin on his palm. "Well, let me tell you all about my ex-lovers then if you don't want to yet!"

Yuuri sighed in relief at the change of subject and he released his grip on Phichit's arm.

SMACK!

He nearly jumped out of his seat when a lunch tray suddenly slammed in down in front of him, nearly crushing his fingers, and he looked up to see the cold eyes glaring at him and a strange boy standing over him.

"Out of my seat, piggy." The boy snarled at him, his voice bordering on the verge of threatening. He had blonde hair that reached down to his chin and covered nearly half of his face.

"Yuri," Viktor frowned as he shook his head disapprovingly. The displeasure looked so foreign on him and regarded the boy with disappointment. "Don't be rude."

"You're, Viktor's brother?" Yuuri asked, finally connecting the dots. His mind had stopped working and he couldn't believe how the different the two were.

"Yeah, and you are?" The blonde sneered at Yuuri with his eyes full of abhor. "Didn't you hear me? Move."

"Yuri, where's that kid who was supposed to show you around? Why do you eat with him?" Viktor's tone made it clear that it wasn't a suggestion, but an order.

"He's annoying." Yuri rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I was finally able to ditch him--"

"HEY YUURI!" Yet another person ran up to their table, and this time it was a young boy with dirty blonde hair that had a small portion dyed red. Kenjirou Minami grinned at Yuri and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I thought you had gotten lost."

The number of people at their table was starting to get too large for Yuuri's likes, and he groaned internally when he saw that Minami was now there. He didn't know why, but that kid seemed to idolize and was always hanging around at the ice rink whenever Yuuri went there to practice. Some people would find it flattering, but Yuuri just felt overwhelmed by the attention and he still couldn't figure out why exactly Minami looked up to him so much.

"Oh, Yuuri!" Minami had finally noticed him sitting there and his grin widened. "Are you going to the rink today? Do you think you can help me with my jumps?! Please say yes, please!"

Yuuri smiled politely but he shook his head firmly. "Sorry, Minami. I can't today."

"Aww, that sucks." Minami pouted for a few seconds before another thought popped into his head and he started bouncing up and down in his seat. "I heard you were thinking about starting an ice skating club, are--"

"--Hold on just a minute!" Yuri snapped angrily as he pointed an accusing finger at Yuuri. "This is a joke, right? Don't tell me that you actually have the same name as me."

"Well, I do." Yuuri shrugged, its not like he could apologize for something like that. 

"I have an idea!" Viktor smiled proudly at he turned to his brother. "We'll just call your Yurio from now on! That way it won't be confusing for anyone."

"Yurio?!" The blonde's face was actually starting to get a bit red and his scowl deepened. "Why do I have to be the one to change my name? I'm your brother!"

"He's older," Viktor said simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But come on, Yurio's not a bad name either. It suits you."

Yuri, now dubbed Yurio, did nothing but glare at his brother and he looked as if he was seconds away from jumping on him. He probably would have if it hadn't been for Phichit, who never wasted an opportunity for a good selfie.

"Alright everyone, say cheese!" He cried as he held the phone up and positioned it so that everyone could be in it.

Yuuri sighed in relief when suddenly the familiar sharp ring of the bell rang through the room and signaled the end of lunch.


	2. The walk home

The final bell of the day rang and Yuuri carefully maneuvered his way out the door as fast as he could to avoid getting trampled by a flood of students. Relief washed away his body as soon as he had made it out the front entrance of the school. Going home was his favorite part of the day, it's not that he didn't enjoy school...it's just that it left him mentally and physically exhausted and drained of all his energy...yeah, he really didn't enjoy school that much.

He had almost made it off campus when he heard someone calling his name loudly and spotted a figure in the distance rushing towards him.

"HEY YUURI!"

Viktor was waving excitedly at him and when he was finally close enough, Yuuri could see that his blue eyes were full of delight. "Let's walk home together!"

"Um..." To be honest, Yuuri was a bit taken back by how eager Viktor was. He glanced at him with a questioning stare and raised an eyebrows in confusion. "Do you really want to?"

Normally, Yuuri always walked home by himself. He actually enjoyed being alone with nothing but his thoughts and nothing from the outside world to bother him. It was the time where he didn't have to worry about anyone or anything, and he quite enjoyed those few minutes.

But he didn't want to be rude of course. It was only Viktor's first day at the new school and probably only his first week in town. But the funny thing was that he sure didn't act like it.

Yuuri didn't really understand it and he couldn't help but be in awe of Viktor. It's like they were on two completely different wavelengths. Viktor was so...full of life, and charming, and pretty everyone at school had fallen in love with him at first glance and were eager to be his friend. The two of them were so distinct, what would they even talk about on the way home?

"Of course, I want to walk with you!" A look of hurt flashed across Viktor's face as if he could sense Yuuri's hesistation, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Instead he turned and pointed in the direction of the sidewalk. "I think the house is that way but I'm not entirely sure." Despite his doubts, he began to walk.

Yuuri stood there, staring at Viktor's back until he turned around to give Yuuri a confused glaze. Stuttering an apology, Yuuri willed his legs to move and he began to follow Viktor. "What about Yurio?"

"He's walking home with that Minami kid," Viktor explained. "He needs to make new friends and he can't do that if he spends all his time hanging out with his brother."

Yuuri shoved his hands into his pockets when he felt a slight chill on his back, and looked up to see that the sky was beginning to darken with storm clouds. He was surprised to find that he didn't mind walking with someone else. It was sort of comforting in a way.

"He really likes you, doesn't him?" Viktor's eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "Minami, I mean."

"Well, he does seem to idolize me for some reason," Yuuri chuckled softly at the thought but Viktor didn't. "I've seen him around at the ice skating rink and he's always watching me and begging for me to teach him how to improve."

"You skate?" Viktor's eyes perked up in excitement and he studied Yuuri with a faint smile on his lips.

"A bit." Yuuri admitted, although the truth was far from that. Skating was his life but it wasn't a very popular sport around town and most people thought it was too boring.

"Do you think you could take me to the rink? Please?" Viktor pleaded, giving Yuuri puppy dog eyes and clasping his hands dramatically. "I'd love to see you skate." With those words, Viktor winked teasingly at him.

"I guess..." His cheeks flustered at the thought, but he tried to brush those feelings away. Yuuri never really felt comfortable whenever other people watched him skate, he just didn't like feeling an immense pressure to not mess up and flub a jump. He still got chills whenever he felt Minami watching him but he had long given up trying to convince the younger boy to leave him alone.

"Thanks! To be honest, I really don't know my way around town" Viktor chuckled as he ran a hand through his bangs and swept some hair of out his eyes. "...in fact I don't even remember where I live..." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Really...?" Yuuri furrowed his eyebrows in concern and thought about the implications of his words. What was he going to do if he couldn't help Viktor find his way home? Let him stay over at his house?

"Don't worry!" Viktor reassured him quickly above noticing how worried Yuuri looked. "I do remember that there was a hot springs place right beside it."

Yuuri froze. It couldn't be... "Hot springs?" He asked, trying not to let his astonishment seep through his words. As far as he knew, his parents ran the only hot springs in town...assuming that some new hot spring place hadn't magically popped up overnight.

"Yeah! And there was there a poodle in the yard, I remember that because the dog reminded me so much of my own Makkachin," Viktor sighed sadly. "I miss my dog...are you alright? You're getting a bit red.."

So it was true. "...my family runs the hot springs.." Yuuri admitted, muttering the words under his breath in hopes that Viktor wouldn't hear.

"Wait, really?! That means we're neighbors!" Viktor's face lit up and his hands flew up to his face in shock. "It's like fate brought us together!"

"Right...fate..."

Viktor was going to spend the next year living right next to him. Yuuri let that thought sink in and he grasped slightly as another realization popped into his head. That meant Yurio as well would be merely a few feet away from him...and based on how he had acted during lunch, it was clear that he didn't like Yuuri very much.

"...so you're living with Mr. Yakov? That's interesting..." In the years that the old Russian man had lived besides them, Yuuri could only remember a handful of times that he had ever interacted with him. As a kid, he and his sister had often avoided their neighbor's yard for fear of being scolded by the stern-looking man.

"Yup, he's a friend of my parents, so he agreed to let us stay with him." Viktor's voice took on a bored tone, as if he suddenly grown tired of talking. He went silent for a few seconds before breaking the uncomfortable atmosphere that had fallen above them. "So what's this ice skating club I keep hearing about?"

Yuuri laughed nervously and waved his arm in the air, as if to brush away the idea. "Just something that Phichit and I talked about doing, but it's nothing." He was really hoping that Viktor would let go of the idea, but he was wrong.

"Why do you say that?" Viktor frowned slightly. On him it looked so strange. "It's seems like something that could be really cool."

Yuuri blinked in surprise and waited for Viktor to laugh and say that he was just joking. Aside from him, Phichit, and Minami, no one else seemed to think that ice skating was cool. "Really?"

"Of course!" Viktor nodded eagerly as he stopped abruptly and placed his hands on Yuuri's shoulders. "You have to do it!" He cried as he shook him slightly.

Yuuri sighed and stepped back out of Viktor's hold. "It's not as easy as it sounds..." He and Phichit had already gone to see the principal to ask about it...and the man had been less than pleased with the idea.

"What? Why not?" Viktor demanded as his eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Well..." Yuuri didn't even know where to start. "There was one a few years back, but it got disbanded because students had little interest in it. We would need a minimum of 10 people to join.."

"That's not so hard, we can just ask people! There's more than a thousand kids at school."

"...And we need an teacher advisor..." Yuri continued, ignoring Viktor's words.

"Like I said, we should just ask! If we're persistent enough than at least one teacher will say yes."

"And there would be liability issues if someone got injured..."

"No problem! We'll give them helmets and knee pads."

Yuuri groaned at Viktor's everlasting optimism. "It's not that simple!"

Viktor grinned and reached out of poke Yuuri's nose. "You're just making things seem more complicated than they really are."

Yuuri flustered at the sudden touch and batted away Viktor's finger. "Let's talk about something else now."

Viktor pouted. "Fine, but promise me that you'll let me help out. We can't let that idea go to waste." He stuck out his hands towards Yuuri.

"Alright," Yuuri hesitated for a second before slipping his hand into Viktor's and shaking it. It felt just as warm as it had been earlier at lunch. "We'll talk about this later."

"So, do you have any lovers or ex-lovers? I never really got a clear answer on that..." His grin widened when he saw Yuuri roll his eyes. "You said you wanted to change the subject."

"Yes, I meant anything but that." Yuuri desperately ranked his mind for a way out of this. "Why don't you tell me about yourself instead?"

"Myself?" Viktor repeated the word as if it was a foreign word he had never heard of.

"Yeah, I barely know anything about you, other than the fact that you're from Russia. " Yuuri hoped that his question didn't sound too creepy. Judging from the look on Viktor's face, he didn't appear to be in rush to spill out his entire life story.

"Well, there's not much to tell..." Viktor's eyes shifted towards the distance and he suddenly pointed towards something. There's the house....but it looks like Yakov isn't home yet." The old house was completely dark and showed no signs of life whatsoever.

Yuuri frowned. For as long as he could remember, there had always been someone home to greet him whenever he arrived from school. "Do you wanna come over?" He asked before he could change his mind.

Viktor's eyes widened in surprise but he nodded quickly and followed Yuuri as he led the way down the driveway.

"Hi mom," Yuuri called out as he opened the door and motioned for Viktor to follow him. Viktor walked slowly and studied everything intently, as if he was trying to capture the scene in his memory.

"Yuuri, how was school?" His mother walked into the room, but she stopped straight in her tracks when her eyes landed on Viktor. "You brought a friend home..." Surprise bloomed across her face but it was quickly replaced with joy. "Yuuri, I'm glad you're making new friends!"

Yuuri couldn't help but cringe and he shot his mom a pleading look. He knew that he almost never brought home friends, and his mom knew that, but Viktor didn't and he really didn't want his mom to reveal just how much of a social recluse he was.

"I'm Viktor!" If he had noticed the embarrassed look on Yuuri's face, Viktor didn't acknowledge it. " Nice to meet you."

"Stay as long as you want, dear." One look at Mrs. Katuski and it was clear that she had already mentally adopted Viktor as her own and would dote on him as if he were her child. "Are you boys hungry?" I'll make you some pork cutlet bowls."

As his mom left the room, Viktor sighed and he placed his chin on his palm. "Your mom seems so nice," There was something in his words, almost as if there was something aching inside of him, and his eyes held a longing look of sadness.

"Yeah..." Yuuri slipped off his bag and took off his shoes. When he turned back around he almost had a heart attack when he saw that Viktor was suddenly on the other side of the room, staring at all the pictures his mom had hung on the wall. "Viktor?!" He was horrified and he couldn't keep the embarrassment out of his voice. There were pictures from when he had been a little kid and first learning how to skate.

"You're really passionate about skating, aren't you?" Viktor whispered as he slowly reaching out a hand and placed it on a picture. The photo had been taken right after Yuuri had landed his first jump, his cheeks had been flushed red with excitement and he had struck a ridiculous pose where he had his hands up in the air.

"It's not just a hobby, it's more than that, isn't it?" Viktor let his arm drop back to his side, and he turned to gaze at Yuuri directly, making sure to look him straight in the eye.

"Viktor..." Yuuri was at a loss of words, but he stayed put as Viktor slowly sauntered towards him, his blue eyes never once wavering from his own brown ones.

"We're going to revive the skating club, Yuuri. You may think it's too hard, but trust me. We'll do it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^-^ Thanks to everyone who's read and commented so far! It's really made my day. 
> 
> Get ready for some Otayuri in the next chapter!


	3. Motorcycle ride

There were still a few minutes until the bell was due to ring, but Yurio's teacher decided to let the class out early and for that he was extremely grateful. He didn't particularly feel like wasting another moment listening to some old geezer go on and on about chemistry.

He stalked down the hall towards his locker with his hands shoved into his pockets and a hard look in his eyes. As soon as he rounded the corner he spotted a familiar head of silver hair. "Viktor, let's get out of this place already." He demanded as soon as his brother was within earshot.

"Oh, Yurio..." Viktor looked up at him with an knowing smile and wagged a finger in front of his face as if he was a little kid. "I thought we agreed that you'd walk with Minami and I'd walk with Yuri."

Yurio gritted his teeth in frustration and it took all his willpower not to bite off Viktor's finger. "Stop calling me Yurio!" He really didn't understand why he had to be the one that had to change his name, and he really didn't appreciate the fact that his own brother was the one who had suggested the name change.

"And I walked with Minami yesterday, isn't that enough?!"

Viktor sighed and he shot Yurio a pleading look. "You've only known the guy for one day and you're already sick of him?" He shook his head as if he didn't know what to make of him. "Give the boy a chance, he seems like a good kid and you need to learn to make new friends."

"He talks way too much. Especially about ice skating and that pig." The was the other thing that bothered him so much, the fact that Viktor was suddenly keen on becoming best friends with the piggy that had been assigned to him.

"Yurio..." The warning in Viktor's face was clear and the corners of his lips were turned down ever so slightly. Had anyone else seen him they wouldn't have been able to read the displeasure on his face, but Yurio knew his brother well enough to recognize his annoyance.

"Fine, fine." Yurio slug his backpack onto his shoulder and turned around towards the opposite direction. "I'll walk with him."

"See you at home." Viktor called out from behind him but Yurio pretended that he hadn't heard and stalked off.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yurio looked to his right.

None of the buildings or street names seemed familiar. Panic was beginning to bubble up inside of him, but he pushed those feelings away and tried to reassure himself that everything was fine.

He turned to his left.

That's when he realized that he was probably lost. He really shouldn't have ditched Minami.

Looking down at his phone, he saw that nearly an hour had passed since he had left school. Yesterday the walk home had only taken 15 minutes. He bit his lip in frustration but he continued to walk, even if the farther he traveled the more lost he seemed to get.

As he glanced hopelessly from side to side and saw that absolutely nothing looked familiar, Yurio came to the conclusion that there was only one person to blame. Viktor. This was all his fault. He was lost, he had no idea where he was or how to get home and it was all because of Viktor and the stupid pressure he placed on Yurio to make friends.

Another five minutes passed. This time, he absentmindedly pulled out his phone to call someone, but his finger paused in mid air when he realized that he only had two contacts: Viktor and Yakov. He wondered if either of them had noticed that he wasn't home yet, or if they were worried.

Probably not, he thought bitterly as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. Yakov was probably working late again and Viktor was most likely over at the stupid hot springs again.

That was fine, he didn't need their help anyway, he could figure out how to get home on his own.

It was when the first raindrop splashed onto his cheek that he began to doubt himself. He swore out loud as he pulled his hood over his head and quickened his pace. Around him, he could see other people pulling out umbrellas. All he had was his hood and he could already feel that the fabric was getting soaked.

A nearby alley provided a small ledge for him to cower under. He stood underneath it, trembling slightly whenever a few stray drops hit him. There was a dumpster right next to him and the smells that came from it almost made him throw up. His hand in his right pocket curled around his phone and he ready to give in and call Viktor for help, when a small rustle beside him caught his attention.

Yurio stood very still as he eyed the small pile of leftover newspapers and boxes that had appeared to move only a second earlier. His ears caught a very faint meow that was almost carried away by the wind and his eyes widened as he realized that whatever it was that was there, it was alive.

He dropped to his knees, not even caring that his pants got wet, and hastily removed all the debris until all that remained as one lone box. Inside there was a small kitten, curled up into a little ball, shaking and crying out for food and warmth. Anger flooded his veins and Yurio swore that he saw red. What kind of bastard would leave a kitten out on the streets to die?

His tentatively reached towards the kitten and patted it gently, almost afraid that the delicate thing would break under his touch. Underneath his hand, he could feel the kitten purr and he slowly reached around it's tiny body and cradled it in his arms. He had always wanted a cat, and when he was little he had constantly begged his parents for one. Instead they had brought Makkachin home, and while Viktor had been overjoyed, Yurio never stopped holding on to his desire of a feline pet.

As he sat there, holding the kitten and waiting for the rain to stop, a thought popped into his head. Makkachin was in Russia, Yakov didn't have any pets, so that meant there was nothing stopping him from bringing the cat home. From the distance there came a loud rumbling noise. Yurio swore softly, that meant thunder was coming and the rain was about to get even worse.

But as the seconds went by, the noise seemed to grew louder and sounded as if it was getting closer to him. He realized then, it wasn't thunder, it was a motorcycle.

As suddenly as the noise had appeared, it stopped. Heavy footsteps were coming towards him and he could see the outline of a person that stood near the entrance of the alley.

Yurio sucked in sharp breath and stood still, as he watched the stranger walk towards him. He wore a large black coat with a gray scarf and sported an undercut. His face was stoic, impossible to decipher what it was he was thinking, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly when he spotted the kitten that Yurio was holding.

In response, Yurio shot a glare at him, and tightened his grip on the kitten as he protectively held it to his chest. He didn't know who this guy was, but he wasn't going to let him hurt the cat.

"Is that your cat?" His voice was deep, and he standing directly into front of Yurio, looking down at him as he spoke. The stranger raised an eyebrow up in question, but it was clear by the tone of his voice that he already knew the answer to that. Yurio said nothing.

The stranger didn't seem surprised by his silence. He took a step back and slowly sat down on the ground, never once taking his gaze off Yurio. He seemed hesitant to speak again, but eventually he asked. "Yuri, right?"

Yurio blinked in surprise, and he felt his jaw open with shock. "How do you know who I am?" He demanded angrily. His heart almost stopped when he saw the stranger reach into his pocket and pull something out, but he let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just a bottle of milk.

"I'm Otabek." He held the bottle towards Yurio, as if offering him a peace treaty. "I've seen you around school."

Otabek didn't look familiar at all...but then again, Yurio hadn't bothered to learn any of his classmates' names. He took the bottle that was offered to him and uncapped it.

"I come here everyday." Otabek explained as he gently reached out and scratched the spot between the kitten's ears. "I found her here a few weeks ago." 

"Why not just take her home?"

"My parents are allergic." Otabek shrugged. He looked up at the sky, and watched as the rain fell. "It's not good for her to be out like this in the rain."

"I could take her home..." Yurio muttered the words under his breath but Otabek looked up at him.

"Really? Are you sure your parents wouldn't mind?"

Yurio scowled at the mention of parents. "Yakov wouldn't care. And Viktor's too busy hanging out with the little piggy."

Otabek nodded and stood up. "I could drive you home, if you want." He offered a hand to the young blonde that was still sitting on the floor.

Yurio stared at his hand for a few seconds before finally grabbing onto it and allowing himself to be helped up. He could feel the thick calluses on Otabek's palm, but they felt surprisingly soft and warm. He almost didn't want to let go.

"I don't need a ride." Yurio said bluntly, dismissing the offer completely. He placed the kitten in his sweatshirt's pocket and smiled softly when he felt the little thing purr in response. The rain was beginning to stop, but there was still some drops that sprinkled on to him.

"You sure?" Otabek followed him at the alley and the two of them stopped by his motorcycle. "You seem a bit lost."

"I'm not lost!" Yurio huffed as he crossed his arms against his chest. He rolled his eyes at himself when he realized how childish he must of looked and sounded, and the tiny smile that briefly appeared on Otabek's face only proved that he was right. "I know exactly where I'm going."

"And where would that be?" There was a hint of amusement in his words, although Otabek kept his face stoic.

"The hot springs." Yurio mumbled as he pulled his phone out to check the time again. Almost 90 minutes had passed since he had left school.

"You mean the one that's all the way on the other side of town?" Otabek chuckled when he saw the look of disbelief on Yurio's face and he picked up the spare helmet that he always kept on his bike. "You'd be home a lot faster if you let me drive you."

"Who said I wanted to go home as soon as possible?" Yurio shook his head when Otabek tried to give him the helmet. "Maybe I happen to like long walks, do you ever think of that?"

"The sooner the cat gets out of the rain and into a warm house, the better." Otabek pointed out as he hopped onto the bike and started the engine. As the motorcycle roared to life, he turned to look at Yurio one last time. "Are you coming with me, or not?"

"Fine," Yurio sighed in defeat and accepted the helmet. He hesitantly sat down behind Otabek, and couldn't help but feel a burst of excitement, this was the first time he had ever ridden on a motorcycle.

The bike suddenly lurched forward without warning, and Yurio yelped in surprised and threw his arms around Otabek's waist in order to prevent himself from flying off.

"Sorry," He couldn't see Otabek's face but he could tell that the guy was smirking. "Hold on tight."

"If you crash and kill us, I'll come back from the dead and murder you!" Yurio muttered in response. Otabek just laughed.


	4. A challenge is issued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor makes an interesting deal with someone

Guang Hong's favorite part of the day was the ten minutes of free time he had in between each class. Technically speaking, those ten mintues were supposed to allow students enough time to fetch books from their lockers and make it to their next class on time, but that's not the reason why he enjoyed it so much.

But today, the teacher had insisted that no one could leave the room until everyone had picked up their tests from last week, which resulting in him rushing out of the class five minutes after the bell signaling the end of 2nd period had rung. As he skidded out the door, he couldn't help but grin when he spotted a familiar figure leaning against the wall.

"Hi, Leo!" He greeted as he rushed up to his friend. "Sorry, I made you wait." The two of them had first met last year when Guang Hong had gone to a free tutoring session at the library in order to get some extra help with Spanish.

Leo, who had been listening to music as he waited, straightened up and shook off the ear buds he had on. "Hey! It's alright, I don't mind waiting for you." He said those words with a smile that made Guang Hong's heart flutter. Leo nodded towards the hallway on their left. "I need to stop by my locker, if it's ok with you."

Even after Guang Hong's grade in Spanish had improved, the two of them had remained good friends ever since. They didn't share any classes together due to the fact that Leo was two years older than him, but their classes were all located in the same area so they had grown accustomed to walking with one another during the passing periods.

"It's alright, I'm not in a hurry." Guang Hong assured him, even though he snuck a glance at the high pile of books he cradled in his own arms. He had been planning on dropping off his stuff at his locker...but they only had five minutes left and his locker was all the way on the other side of the school. There were two options, ditch Leo or ignore the burning feeling in his arms. "Lead the way." He readjusted his grip on the books and decided that he could postpone the visit to his locker until after his next class.

The two of them walked down the halls, chatting away about some random stuff, and Guang Hong felt satisfied that he had made the right choice. It wasn't often that the two of them could talk in person, and although they texted constantly he still wished that they could hang out more.

Upon reaching his locker, Leo's hand shot out and he spun the dial until a little click rang out and the door opened. He grabbed the books that he needed and was about to slam the door shut when he did a double take and stopped. "Do you want to put some of your books in my locker?" He asked when he saw how much Guang Hong was struggling under the immense weight of the stuff he had in his arms.

 

"No thanks, I can carry this--" Guang Hong shook his head but Leo plucked the books out of his hand before he could ever finish his sentence. He couldn't help but feel relief as the weight was lifted off him. "Thanks."  
They had two more minutes left until the start of 3rd period, so Leo quickly locked up and they made their way back down the hall. As they walked a flash of color on the wall caught his eye and Leo stopped suddenly, staring at whatever had caught his attention.

"Leo?" It was then that Guang Hong realized that his friend was no longer walking besides him, so he turned back around. On the wall was a flyer that had a picture a an ice skate and the words "ICE SKATING CLUB, COMING SOON!" in bold black letters underneath it.

"That seems like it'll be cool. I might join it." Leo took of a picture of the email and phone number that were printed on the corner of the flyer.

"I'll join too." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself, and Guang Hong almost regretted it when he saw Leo's look of surprise. Had he accidently come across as clingy or stalkerish?

"I didn't know you skated." Leo commented, but his eyes lit up in delight and he gestured towards his phone. "I'll send you the picture."

Guang Hong grinned and he almost wanted to cheer out loud when he realized what had just happened. This ice skating club would provide the perfect opportunity for him to hang out with Leo more. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yurio scowled at he looked down at the English book in his hands, and the thought suddenly crossed his mind that he should've ditched 3rd period when he had the chance. Besides him, Minami wouldn't stop talking about the ice skating club and how excited he was. It was bad enough that the kid was in all of his classes, but did his seat really have to be right next to Yurio's?

When Minami gushed about how amazing Yuuri was for the 5th time in ten minutes, Yurio's hand shot up in the air and he asked for the bathroom pass. He wasn't going to spend another second in this class. The teacher seemed reluctant to give it to him, but he snatched the pass out of her hand before she could reconsider and dashed out of the room.

He stalked down the halls with his hands shoved into his pockets and a scowl on his face as he wondered what his next move should be? The halls were completely empty and he found that he actually enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Ditching school was the ideal plan, but he knew that Yakov would be pissed if he found out. Yesterday, Yakov hadn't been entirely pleased when he had come home and seen the kitten that Yurio had taken home, but his attention had quickly shifted to the huge mess that Viktor had made as he and Yuuri printed out hundreds of flyers.

Yurio's scowl deepened as his mind flashed back to Viktor and the way he and that piggy had been running around and laughing together as they struggled to pick up the papers that seemed to cannonball right out of the printer.

His mood only grew worse when he rounded the corner and spotted one of the flyers taped on the wall. The urge to rip it down ran through his veins but he knew that there would be no point in doing that, they had printed out so many flyers that a missing one wouldn't make much of a difference.

He made his way over to his locker, ultimately deciding that if he wasn't going to ditch school he was at least going to grab a quick snack from his lunch bag before going back to class.

Upon opening his locker and being greeted by about a dozen flyers that had been stuffed in, Yurio swore softly as he ripped them off and crumbled them up. Last night Viktor had practically begged him to join and he wouldn't take no as an answer, especially since there was a quota of a minimum of 10 people needed. He really didn't know why Viktor wouldn't just give up already, there was no way in hell he'd ever help that piggy and join his stupid club and he knew that Viktor knew that.

"How's the cat?"

Yurio almost jumped straight in the air and his first thought was to grab a book and throw it at whoever had just snuck up behind him. He spun around, ready to glare a hole through whoever had scared him, but his harsh gaze relaxed when he recognized the familiar brown eyes that studied him with curiosity and a hint of amusement.

Otabek glanced at the paper bag that Yurio clutched in his hands and raised an eyebrow up in question. "Are you ditching?"

Yurio scoffed and shoved his lunch bag back into his locker after grabbing an apple. "Why? Are you?"

"No." Otabek shook his head, his gaze fell towards the floor where Yurio had tossed all the flyers that had been stuffed in his locker. "I have a free period right now."

"Lucky." Yurio slammed his locker shut and turned to face Otabek. "I wish I had a free period. My English class sucks."

"Freshman aren't allowed to have free periods." Otabek explained, repeating the exact words that Yurio had heard from his counselor when he had tried to change his schedule.

"I know that." Yurio finished his apple, he tossed the core into a nearby trash can but he missed and had to walk over and pick it up.

Behind him, he heard rustling and footsteps coming towards him. Otabek dumped the crumpled papers into the trash can. "They printed out a lot of flyers." Otabek commented as he glanced down at hall at the other flyers that were scattered throughout the walls. "Seems like a waste of paper."

"Yakov yelled at Viktor cause he wasted all the ink in the printer." Yurio couldn't help but laugh as the memory flashed through his mind. It had been pretty funny to watch his brother get scolded by the older Russian man. "But at least that took his attention off the cat."

Otabek frowned at his statement. "Was he mad about the cat too?"

"A bit." Yurio shoved his hand into his pockets, his fingers touched the hall pass but he was in no hurry to get back to class. "But this morning he gave me some money and told me to buy some things for her."

"That's good." Otabek motioned for Yurio to follow him and the two of them walked down the hall.

Yurio shrugged. "I guess, but that was mostly because he doesn't want the cat to mistake any of his things as toys."

They walked for a bit before arriving at two large doors that opened up to reveal the library. There was dozens of bookshelves filled with books and a handful of tables scattered around the room. Otabek headed towards the table farthest away from the librarian's desk. 

"I'm not sure what to buy, I've never had my own pet to take care of." Yurio admitted as he sat down across from Otabek. There was a few other students in the library but none of them seemed to have noticed him come in.

"I could help, if you want." Otabek said as he opened one of the books that lay the table and began to leaf through it. "There's a pet store not far from here."

His first instinct should have been to say no. Last night Viktor had made such a big deal of the fact that Otabek had driven him home and he had gushed about how that proved that Yurio wasn't a heartless robot incapable of forming social relationships.

But being driven home on a motorcycle proved nothing, getting a ride home had just been the most convenient option, especially since it had been raining. That didn't mean that Yurio actually tolerated Otabek and wanted to be friends with him. At least that's what he tried to tell himself, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he got whenever he thought back to their first encounter.

As much as he hated to admit it, Yurio didn't mind the idea of spending more time with Otabek. 

"Sure. Let's go afterschool."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I think we should print out another batch of flyers as soon as possible."

"Are you sure?" Yuuri scanned the hallway that they were currently passing through and almost had a heart attack when he saw that Viktor and Phichit had taped flyers to all of the lockers. They had been on their way to their 4th period class, but Viktor had insisted on showing him what he and Phichit had managed to accomplish that morning.

"Of course, Yuuri!" Viktor gaped at him in shock as if he couldn't believe Yuuri's question. "We have to get the word out to everyone!"

"I guess..." As Yuuri stared at the flyers he couldn't help but feel butterflies flutter around in his stomach. This was really happening, they were actually going to make the ice skating club a reality! A miracle was happening.

According to the text he had received from Phichit last night, the gym teacher, Mr. Celestino, had agreed to serve as an advisor for their club. As soon as Viktor had heard the news, he had insisted on printing up a bunch of flyers to promote the club.

"I told you we could do it." Viktor smiled when he saw the look of awe on Yuuri's face and he threw an arm around him to give him a quick hug, chuckling at the way Yuuri's cheeks flushed at the sudden contact. "We'll make this the best club ever."

They had reached the end of the hallway and were passing by the principal's office when suddenly the door flew open and a very angry voice barked at them from the inside. "YOU TWO, IN MY OFFICE RIGHT NOW!"

Without even giving them time to react, the principal decided that waiting wasn't an option and instead yanked the two of them into his office. "Sit. Both of you."

Yuuri made a noise in the back of his throat that was a cross between a squeal and a shriek and his mind raced with panic as he tried to figure out what it was that they had done to anger the principal so much.

Viktor seemed surprisingly calm, his eyes narrowed slightly as he gave the man a calculating look. "What seems to be the problem?"

The principal scowled at him, and held up one of their flyers. "This is the problem." He hissed between gritted teeth as he glared at the two of them.

Viktor didn't even flinch, instead he just seemed bored and crossed his arms in annoyance. "Why's that a problem? We have an advisor and Yuuri is friends with the family that owns the ice skating rink."

The man stared at him, as he couldn't believe that Viktor had the nerve to talk back to him. A vein on his forehead throbbed angrily as he ripped the flyer in half. "There will be no ice skating club. It's a stupid idea and not worth the trouble."

"Ice skating isn't stupid!" It took Yuuri a moment to realize that it was his own voice that had just spoken up. The look that the principal was giving him made him instantly regret speaking up, but Viktor glanced at him with a reassuring smile and motioned from him to continue. "And a lot of people seem interested in the club!"

That part was true, Phichit had told him during 3rd period that a few people had already texted or emailed him to ask for more details about the club.

"And why do you say it's not worth it?" Viktor pointed out, as a coy smile spread across his face and his eyes sparked with an idea. "Do you not realize what a golden opportunity this is?"

Yuuri really didn't like the look on Viktor's face but he was a roll and there was no stopping him now.

"What do you mean by that?" The principal growled as he studied Viktor was a suspicious gaze.

"Don't you get it?" Viktor asked as if the answer was so obvious that an explanation wasn't needed. "This club could become really popular, which would bring a lot of good publicity to the school, not to mention that fact that we could put on ice shows and raise money for the school. I bet a lot of people would pay to see us skate, and Yuuri here is especially good!"

"Viktor!" Yuuri hissed at him, desperate to make him stop talking because now the principal was the one who had a strange look on his face.

"In fact, let's make a deal!" Viktor jumped out his chair so that instead of being looked down on, he could now be at eye level with the man. "We'll put on ice show at the end of the year to show people just how great ice skating is and if the audience hates it then we'll disband the club!"

"Viktor!" Yuuri's voice had gotten louder and he was ready to grab Viktor's hand and drag him out of there before he could make the situation worse.

"Shh, Yuuri! It's a perfect idea." Viktor was clearly getting excited now, judging by the way he waved his hands in the air to gesture. "And it's a win-win deal for you, sir, because even if event fails, we'll still give all the ticket money to the school."

"Very well." The principal said finally after thinking about the proposition for a moment. "I'll accept that deal."


	5. chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michele Crispino doesn't understand why his sister wants to join the new club.   
> Yurio doesn't understand why he doesn't mind spending time with Otabek.   
> Viktor just wants Yuuri to pet the kitten.

Michele Crispino frowned slightly as he glared across the cafeteria at the table where all the jocks sat. He was almost positive that one of them had been checking out his sister in the halls earlier and there was no way he was going to let Sara get involved with any of those brain-less idiots. Admittedly, Sara had told him again and again that she wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship with anyone at the moment, but her words had done nothing to soothe him. He just knew, that there was always a slight possibility of someone coming along and wooeing his sister right off her feet and out of his life forever.

But it looked like he wouldn't have to worry about the jocks. From where he sat he could see one of them stick out their foot and trip some innocent kid who had made the simple mistake of walking too close to their table. A small smile spread across his lips and he almost wanted cheer out loud, Sara absolutely hated bullies.

"Mickey, are you even listening?"

An apple slice was chucked at his head and he felt it hit his temple. His sister was staring at him with an annoyed look on her face, almost as if she knew what he had been doing a few seconds ago. "Mila's telling us about that new club she heard about."

Michele's gaze shifted over to the red headed Russian girl who smirked slightly at the way he rubbed the spot where he had been hit. He never understood why exactly Sara continued to hang out with her, the two had been assigned to work on a group project a few months ago and had become fast friends.

It's not that he wanted his sister to remain a social recluse for the entirety of high school, but he just wished that she could have chosen someone else to befriend. Mila was always dragging Sara off to parties and mall shopping during the weekends, and while the invitation had always been extended to include him as well, it was exhausting having to constantly be on the look out for any creepy guys that could try to make a move on his sister. Why couldn't Sara have become best friends with someone who spent their weekends watching crappy reality TV in their pajamas instead?

"It sounds like it'll be really cool," Mila pulled out a crumpled flyer from her pocket and smoothed it out as best as she could.

Michele rolled his eyes but he stiffened as he watched Sara lean closer to the paper and study it curiously. "These flyers are all over school," She commented as she traced the huge block letters with her fingertip. "I heard a bunch of girls saying that they're going to join just because of Viktor and his brother."

 

"Can you blame them? Yurio's so adorable, he's like a small angry kitten! I was in the library during 3rd period and I saw him hanging out with Otabek Altin!" Mila's smirk faded and she sighed as she laid her chin on her palm. "But it sucks that some people are only joining because of that."

Mickey scowled at the mention of the new foreign exchange students. He hoped that Sara wasn't actually considering joining the club as well. From what he heard around school, Yurio seemed to be a bit of a troublemaker who ditched class and rode around with guys on their motorcycles.

Sara nodded in agreement and her gaze shifted towards the table where Katuski Yuuri was sitting. "I've heard Phichit and Yuuri talking about forming this club since the beginning of freshman year..." Her voice trailed off as she frowned slightly. "They're both so excited about it." 

"Well, I'm sure there are at least a few people who are actually interested in skating." Their friend, Emil Nekola, slid down into the seat next to Mickey. He was the sole guy who was permitted to sit at their table and that was because he was the only person who didn't seem to mind helping Mickey gather information about guys who tried to date his sister.

By now, Michele was starting to get tired of talking about the club. It's not like any of them were going to join it. 

"Yeah, but there are none of those people are this table so let's just get rid of--" Michele reached out to snatch the flyer but his sister beat him to it.

"Wait, Mickey." Sara laid the flyer out flat in front of her and took a picture of it with her phone. "I wanna get a picture of the email address."

From besides her, Mila's eyes brightened. "Send it to me!"

Michele felt his jaw drop open when he realized that the flyer wasn't in his hand but was instead across the table. "Don't tell me you're actually considering joining it!"

"It'll be so much fun." Mila gushed, completely ignoring Michele's protests. "We barely get to hang out anymore!"

Mickey crossed his arms against his chest and huffed in annoyance at Mila's words. That was far from the truth, they hung out every weekend!

"It's no use, Mickey. They're already made up their minds." Emil spoke out besides him. He fell silent again as he ate a few more bites of his lunch, but then suddenly put down his fork. "On the bright side, there's no way this could be any worse than the time they went dress shopping and you insisted on going along to make sure the sales attendant wouldn't flirt with them."

Mickey shuddered as the memories of him being forced into wearing a hot pink dress flooded his mind. Never could ever be worse than that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the school day, Yurio and Otabek made their way over to the pet shop. 

Yurio felt like his eyes were going to fall out of his head but he couldn't stop from staring in awe at all the colorful cat toys that lay in front of him. From besides him, Otabek smiled slightly as he watched Yurio run around the store as if he was a little kid in a candy shop.

"She definitely needs this." Yurio muttered as he held up a leopard print cat bed and exclaimed it thoroughly. The price was a bit more than what he had been planning to spend on a bed but there was no way he was leaving the store without it.

"Put it in the cart." Otabek pushed the shopping cart over to him. They had already gotten all the basic food and kitty litter necessities but Yurio seemed adamant on spoiling the cat and getting her a bunch of toys as well.

"You were right, this place is great." Yurio was surprised to hear himself say admit it out loud, and he was even more surprised that he actually meant it. 

He had come to find that he didn't mind shopping with someone else. It was nice, looking through all the bins and shelves and having Otabek there to ask him for his opinion on what stuff to get. He didn't understand why he was enjoying this so much.

Back in Moscow, he had gotten along just fine with his loner lifestyle. He had never needed other people's company to have a good time. 

"What about these?" Otabek held up a collar with a blank tag on it. "Just in case she gets lost."

Yurio glanced over his shoulder at Otabek and shook his head when he saw the collar. "No, not yet...I still haven't decided what to name her." 

Ever since 3rd period had ended, Yurio have been silently asking himself why Otabek had offered to take him to this store. It's not like he had been obligated to do it. His eyes wandered over to look at something on the other side of the store. 

"Look, Otabek!"

Yurio's jaw had dropped open and he was pointing excitedly towards something. Whatever it was, it had clearly captured his attention and he had dropped the toy he had been holding to run over to the display. It was a rack of pet costumes, most of which were for dogs, but on the bottom rung there lay something very different. It was a small hood that was designed to look like a lion's mane and it even had fake ears on it.

Yurio's eyes were shining with delight as he picked up the mane "We have to buy this!" He cried as he turned to show it to Otabek. "She'll like so cute in this!"

"She will." Otabek agreed, as the image of the kitten wearing the ferocious lion mane popped into his head. "I wish I could see that." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Yurio's grin slipped off his face and he couldn't help but frown at Otabek's words. It didn't seem fair to keep the cat all to himself. Otabek had been the one who had taken care of the kitten for the first few days of her life and it was understandable that he missed seeing her. 

"You can if you want. I could send you a picture of it. Or..." Yurio's hesitated before taking a deep breath and continuing. He didn't know why he felt so nervous about asking a simple question. "You could come over to my house instead."

Yurio almost regretted asking the question when he saw Otabek's look of surprise at the sudden invitation. "You don't have to if you don't want--"

 

"I'm working tonight, but what about next week?"

Yurio hadn't realized that he had been holding his breath in anticipation of Otabek's reply until he felt relief wash over him.

After a few more minutes of looking around, the two of them felt satisfied that they had gotten everything they needed and the two of them went to go stand in the checkout line. As they waited, Yurio pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his messages. There was one from Yakov, telling him not to stay out too late, and a few from Viktor. He groaned when he saw his brother's texts and deleted all of them without even reading them. 

"Something wrong?" There was a hint of concern etched onto Otabek's face as he watched Yurio shove his phone back into his pocket.

"Nah, It's just my stupid brother." Yurio rubbed his forehead in frustration as he thought about how annoying Viktor was nowadays. "He keeps persisting me into joining the stupid ice skating club."

"That must be annoying." Otabek waited for Yurio to say something else, but it seemed as if that was all the information he was going to get out of the small Russian teen. He could see that Yurio was clearly still bothered by something even if he didn't want to talk about it. "Why does he keep asking?"

Yurio scowled at the question. "I might have skated a bit back when we were living in Moscow." He admitted, although he mumbled the words under his breath.

"Really?" Otabek blinked in surprise. Given how much disgust Yurio had shown towards the club since the first day the flyers went up, he never would have guessed that the boy had any experience on the ice. "You skated? For fun?" 

"Yeah." Yurio eyed Otabek with a suspicious look. Why did he even care?

"Then why not join?" 

Yurio stayed silent his mind registered the question. Confusion washed over him but that was quickly replaced with annoyance. His first instinct was to full out yell and curse at him because he couldn't believe how oblivious Otabek was. Was it not obvious to the whole world just how stupid and pointless the club was, not mention just a plain waste of time? 

"Why do you want to know?" Yurio snapped as he shot a sharp glare at the upperclassman. "I don't need to explain myself! I'm not joining that club!" 

Otabek raised an eyebrow up as if he wanted to say that he didn't believe Yurio's declaration, but he stayed silent. "Alright." He agreed, as he slowly pushed the cart forward. "If you say so."

Yurio's frowned slightly as he followed Otabek. Why was he asking so many questions? "Good. Cause I'm dead serious, I'm not joining it. "

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as school had ended, Yuuri had decided to call an emergency meeting to discuss the unexpected new development. He still couldn't wrap his mind around what had happened, and there was a small part of him that hoped that the whole incident in the principal's office had just been the result of a hallucination or something to that effect.

During lunch, Viktor and Phichit had decided that it would best to have the first meeting of the ice skating club as soon as possible in order to give them as much time as possible to prepare for the showcase. He had been reluctant, especially since the new proposed date for the first meeting only three days away, but Phichit had assured him that enough people had signed up already.

He wasn't sure what he had been hoping would happen during the emergency meeting, but he definitely hadn't expected Phichit to show up with popcorn and a bunch of movies. Or for Viktor to show up with a kitten in his arms.

"Isn't she adorable?" Viktor gushed as he placed the kitten on Yuuri's bed. "Yurio brought her home yesterday. I wanted to name her Makkachin Jr. but he said that was a stupid name."

Yuuri sighed. He shot a quick glance at the kitten before attempting to set their meeting back on track. "She's very cute, but I think we really should talk about that--"

"That's not a stupid name, right? " Viktor continued on as he tossed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "I don't think it is." 

"--Yuuri!" Phichit held up two DVDs in his hands. "Should we watch the original 'The King and the Skater' movie, or the remake?"

Yuuri almost groaned at loud when he saw what his friend was holding. Phichit had made him watch those movies so many times that he could practically recite the whole script from memory. 

"What movie is that?" Viktor asked curiously before Yuuri could scold Phichit for trying to distract them. "I've never seen it before."

"You've never seen it?!" Phichit stared at Viktor with a horrified look on his face, and he threw his hands up in exasperation. "It's only the greatest cinematic piece ever made! That's it! We're starting with the original first and then we'll make our way through all the sequels and finish off with the remake."

"Phichit, no!" Yuuri reached out to grab the DVDs out of his friend's hand but Phichit tightened his grip on the movies and held them closely to his chest.

"It's Friday!" Phichit whined when Yuuri turned his attention to unplugging the dvd player instead. "We need some time to relax and stop worrying about things."

Yuuri tried to protest but Phichit quickly cut him off. "Just watch!" He demanded as he grabbed Yuuri's shoulders and made him sit down on the bed. "It'll be fun. You love this movie."

 

Yuuri groaned as he watched Phichit march over and plug the DVD player back in. He flopped onto his back and stared up at his ceiling as he willed himself to take some deep breaths and stop thinking about the club. Everything would be fine. He was worrying too much about nothing.

He felt the side of the bed dip slightly as some new weight crawled onto it. Two blue eyes stared down at him, and the familiar heart shaped grin only widened as Viktor slowly laid the kitten on Yuuri's chest. The little thing was so warm, and Viktor was leaning so close to him. 

"Yuuri~" Viktor cooed as he reached out to poke him lightly on the nose. "Relax. Pet the kitten, she's so soft!"

Yuuri sighed but he couldn't refuse the pleading look that Viktor gave him. He glanced at the warm little critter that was snuggling on his chest and tentatively reached out to brush his fingers across her fur.

By now he had accepted the fact that they probably weren't going to get a chance to talk about the club or the new challenges that lay ahead of them. He was surprised to find that he didn't mind, for now he was contempt with just petting the kitten and listening to the familiar sound of the opening number of the movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while since the last update, I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter due to writer's block. I'm not completely happy with how it turned out, but hopefully you guys like it. :)


	6. Author's note (Not a chapter)

Hey everyone, sorry if you all thought this was a new chapter. It's been so long since I last updated this and I'm really sorry about that. Life just got busy. *insert a bunch of excuses about school and extracurricular* 

 

Anyway, I really hate to leave this unfinished, and I've been trying to write new chapters recently but I've got nothing.  I'll still keep trying though, because I really do want to finish this fic.  I really appreciate all of you who have been reading and commenting. 

 

I'll still try really hard to update soon again. Promise. 

**Author's Note:**

> So Yuuri and Viktor's ages have been lowered to 17. Things are gonna start to get more interesting in the next chapter!


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